November 2014 Jobs Report: 214,000 Jobs Added in October

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Paladin on
November 11, 2014

Unemployment rate decreases to 5.8 percent as 214,000 jobs were added in October

October 2014 delivered positivity in the form of a decreased unemployment rate (5.8 percent) and number of unemployed (9.0 million). Since the beginning of the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons have declined by 0.8 percentage point and 1.2 million, respectively.

While the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) remained flat, around 2.9 million individuals. These individuals accounted for 32.0 percent of the unemployed population. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 1.1 million, which is great employment progress.

The civilian labor force participation rate remained flat, overall, at 62.8 percent in October. This number has remained consistently stable for the entire year. The employment-population ratio increased to 59.2 percent in October.

37,000 jobs added to the Professional and Business Services Sector

Employment in professional and business services continued to increase this month, with 37,000 jobs added. In the past 12 months, an average of 56,000 jobs were added per month. October employment continued to trend up in temporary help services, with 15,000 jobs added to this sector. Throughout 2014, employment in professional and business services has grown by an average of 55,000 per month.

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, wholesale trade, information, financial activities, and government, showed little change over the month, but still remain strong employment sectors.

The average workweek for all employees increased by 0.1 hour in October, bringing the total to 34.6 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private non-farm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to a total of 33.8 hours.

Average hourly earnings for all employees increased by 3 cents to $24.57 in October 2104. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.0 percent. In October, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 4 cents to $20.70.

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